Street Slam on Virtual Console

Cue up 1993 and the NBA Jam knock-offs that would follow. Barkley Shut up and Jam, Rap Jam Volume One (there was no Volume Two), Looney Tunes B-Ball, and more began to flood the market. One turned out to be pretty special though, and that was Street Slam (also known as Street Hoops and Dunk Dream).

The formula is much the same, a rough game of basketball with hyper-inflated dunks. Street Slam added a player for 3-on-3 action, international play… and not much else. An enthusiastic announcer didn’t have the punch of Tim Kitzrow, and the animation was cheaply done, but Street Slam was fun.

It’s certainly fast enough, significantly more so than NBA Jam, and the court seems smaller. It has its own flavor for sure, the sprites instantaneously recognized as being from the Neo Geo/MVS era. The soundtrack was great too (better on the Neo Geo CD), with full lyrics, and no matter how cheesy they were, they added additional flavor to the game it would not have had otherwise.